KingDraw PC Tutorial|Drawing Reaction Mechanisms!? How to Add a Variety of Arrows

KingDraw comes with a diverse set of drawing tools, including arrows, drawing elements, brackets, and more, making it convenient for us to create various structural formulas and reaction mechanisms.

Among them, the 【Arrow Tool】 is often used when drawing reaction mechanisms. It helps illustrate the transformation from reactants to products and electron flows. In today’s tutorial, let’s delve into how to add arrows in KingDraw PC. Stay tuned!

Add/Switch Arrows

In KingDraw PC, you can find the Arrow Tool on the left toolbar of the drawing board. KingDraw offers a variety of arrow types, including solid, hollow, curved, and text arrows. Right-click the 【Arrow】 icon to explore and switch arrow styles. Let your creativity flow!

To generate the desired arrow, simply click on the canvas after selecting the arrow type. Adjust the arrow’s length and angle by holding and dragging during insertion.

For Curved Arrows

If you’re aiming for curved arrows, select the curved arrow option from the Arrow Tool or adjust a straight arrow on the canvas.

While in the Arrow Tool or Marquee Tool mode, hover over an existing arrow on the canvas. Adjustment points will appear at the middle and ends of the arrow. Drag these points to freely modify the arrow’s curvature, angle, and length.

Enhancing Arrow Thickness

To make arrows bolder, navigate to the ‘Document Settings’ via the right-click menu and then select ‘Document Settings’. Adjust the arrow thickness to your preference.

Revamp your arrows by adjusting the ‘Line Width’ value in the Drawing Settings. Click ‘Yes,’ then select ‘Don’t modify existing.’ Now, when you add arrows, they’ll be bold without altering existing elements.

When moving on to other elements, you can revert to your original settings in ‘Drawing Settings’ and select ‘Apply to New Objects.’ This way, you can maintain your preferred drawing format for a consistent look.

Remember: Avoid saving files with arrows as *.mol format

Some users might notice that saving files containing arrows in MDL Molfile or MDL Molfile V3000 formats can cause the arrows to disappear upon reopening.

This occurs because these formats are intended for preserving molecular information like atoms, bonds, connectivity, and coordinates, but they do not retain arrow data. It’s recommended to save arrow-containing files in the ‘KDX’ format for comprehensive information storage.